1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an insulation displacement contact (IDC), and in particular to an IDC contact having arcuate terminating means for a thin wire.
2. The Prior Art
Insulation displacement contact (IDC) techniques are widely used for efficiently and simultaneously connecting a number of wires to a corresponding number of contacts of an electrical connector. As shown in FIG. 1 of the attached drawings, an IDC contact 10 comprises a pair of spaced blades 12 having opposing edges 14. A slot 16 of a predetermined width is defined between the edges 14. The slot 16 has a diverging opening 18 for facilitating insertion of a wire 20 of a corresponding gauge. The wire 20 comprises a core conductor 22 enclosed by an insulative coating 24.
As shown in FIG. 2, the wire 20 is forcibly inserted into the slot 16 of the IDC contact 10 causing the insulative coating 24 thereof to be pierced by the edges 14 of the blades 12 thereby forming electrical engagement between the blades 12 and the core conductor 22.
To ensure proper engagement between the blades 12 and the core conductor 22, the width of the slot 16 must precisely correspond to the gauge of the wire 20. For example, a 30 AWG (American Wire Gauge) wire requires a gap of 0.15 mm between the blades 12. The slot 16 may only have a width of 0.10 mm for a 32 AWG wire. Such a small width complicates manufacture of the IDC contact by punching whereby the punching die has a corresponding small dimension that is incapable of sustaining a large punching force and may be damaged during the punching operation.
It is thus desired to provide an improved IDC contact structure for overcoming the above problem.